Another School Mystery
by irishwerewolves
Summary: Martha Black is about to start her 3rd year at Hogwarts School, but several problems arise with Voldemort's recent return. How will she and her friends fare? Based on 5th HP book. Major Spoilers-do not read unless you've read Harry Potter 5! Please R&R.
1. A Friend's Pain

**Another School Mystery…**

_Chapter 1: A Friend's Pain_

13 year old Martha Black was looking at the addresses she'd gained from her friends, and realised one lived in Scotland, and one lived in Ireland.

_How the hell do they manage to get to Hogwarts on time, then!?_ She thought to herself, before realising that maybe she should write to them, because she hadn't spoken to them since they parted on the Hogwarts Express. So she got a few pieces of parchment and began writing:

_Hi Adelyne,_

_I know I haven't written to you, but I've been busy. Dad's just decided that so he's able to help look after my baby sister, Jessica, that he wants to get bitten by a werewolf. He's even planning to get Mum to bite him on the next full moon. She told him that she doesn't want to bite him so he can be with Jessica, but he's insisting. He's even told me that if that doesn't work, that he'll go to Remus and get him to bite him. I don't know what he's thinking, so don't ask me, please. (LOL)_

_Anyway, I'd better go now, I still need to write to the others._

_Please send a letter back, so I know that you'd received it._

_Thanks and I'll see you at school._

_Your best friend,_

_Martha._

Martha sealed the letter and tied it to the leg of her family owl, Firebane, who took off out the window and was soon nothing more than a black speck in the slowly darkening sky. Martha sighed and dipped her quill in the ink bottle on her desk and wrote:

_Heya Dora,_

_How've you been? Sorry I haven't written in ages, but I've been so busy with Dad suddenly deciding that he's definitely going to try and get himself bitten by a werewolf so he can be with Jessica. I have no idea why, but then again, neither does Mum. Anyway, how is Catherine? The last time I saw her she was only a tiny baby. She is so adorable, I want a baby sister like that, even though I already have one. (LOL)_

_Anyway, changing the subject, have you spoken to Paige? Apparently her parents are fighting again. Don't ask me why, but she wrote to me earlier on and told me they were fighting again, with McGonagall accusing Remus of having an affair. I don't know why she would think that, but then again, Paige told me he's been away from home quite a lot. He apparently told her that he's been looking for work so he can keep the family running, but she doesn't believe him. Apparently she thinks he's been to see another woman._

_But on a different note, I realised you live in Scotland, so how is it you get to Kings Cross on time? If you live in Edinburgh, how do you manage to get to London before the train leaves?_

_If you could please send a reply back to me as soon as possible, I'd be really grateful._

_Thanks,_

_Your best friend,_

_Martha._

She sealed that letter and was about to begin writing the next one, when she suddenly heard a shout.

"Martha! Hurry up Martha, get down here quickly!" called her mother's voice, sounding rather stressed. Martha ran down the stairs, after looking out the window and realising the moon, although low in the sky, was full.

_Crap!_ She thought to herself, running downstairs and towards her mother, who was holding a small baby in her arms. This was Martha's baby sister, Jessica, who was born a werewolf, after her mother, Natalie Black, had been bitten the previous year.

"Sorry Mum, I didn't realise it was a full moon tonight." She admitted softly.

"Didn't you feel the urges for blood?" Natalie asked her in mild confusion.

"Well I did, but I kind of ignored them." She replied.

"Alright, well, you and I are going to eat something quickly to keep the wolves from the door for a while, but we'll obviously end up eating tonight anyway, because we'll still be hungry. Sirius, you're cooking for Cody and Georgia." She added, turning to her husband, who was tall with black, shoulder-length hair and brown eyes. Sirius nodded and began walking towards the kitchen. Martha looked quickly at her watch, realising that the time was 7:08pm.

"Mum, it's only almost ten past seven." Martha said, showing Natalie her watch. Natalie bent over slightly to look and nodded, sweeping her long brown hair back behind her left shoulder as she straightened up.

"I know, but we have to get there a bit earlier in order to have time left over before we transform." She said, also walking towards the kitchen, where she opened the pantry and had a look in it to see what she and Martha were able to eat, as Jessica, although liking to chew, was still supposed to be on milk. Martha could see her mother struggling to both hold Jessica and look through the pantry, so she walked up to her.

"Mum, do you want me to hold Jessica while you look to see what we can eat?" Martha asked Natalie, who looked relieved as she handed the baby girl to Martha.

"Thank you Martha." Natalie replied, continuing to look through the pantry. "Okay, this'll have to do. Come on Martha." Natalie said, pulling a couple of pieces of bread from the pantry and, handing one to Martha, the two of them walked briskly out of the house. "Alright, we'll have to apparate, but because you and Jessica can't, I'll have to take you both on side-along apparition." Natalie said after they'd left the house. Handing her baby sister back to Natalie, she held onto her mother's left wrist.

"On the count of three. One…two…three!" she said, and Martha felt her feet leave the ground and felt as though she was being pulled through a tight tube which pushed all the air out of her lungs so she couldn't breathe. This feeling only lasted a second, however, and Martha soon felt solid ground beneath her feet and she found she could breathe again. She breathed in deeply and slowly exhaled, letting go of her mother's wrist.

"Is this the pack's location?" Martha asked her mother curiously.

"Yes, and your friends should be here in a jiffy, too."

"Are they in the same pack?"

"Yep. Ah, here they are now!" Natalie said and a scream followed, but it was a scream of delight, rather than fear or pain.

"HI MARTHA!" her friends all screamed, sprinting over. One had long, light brown hair and blue eyes, with glasses. This was Paige Lupin, who was a year below Martha at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, however, she only looked half as happy as the others. Martha guessed the reason behind this was because of her parents, Remus and Minerva Lupin, were once again fighting. The other two, though belonging to two completely different families, looked almost identical. They both had long, medium-brown hair and green eyes, and both wore glasses. Their names were Adelyne Marlo and Christine Wilkinson. There was also another girl, who had shoulder-length blonde hair and blue eyes. This girl was Lannaster Potter, another one of Martha's friends.

"Hey guys!" she said, just as excited. She then saw Christine's father, William Wilkinson, walking behind, talking to Paige's father, Remus Lupin. William was tall, looking rather a lot like his daughter, except for the hair and skin colour. His hair was black in colour and his skin was a pale tan colour, compared to Christine's dark peach colour. Remus, on the other hand, looked almost identical to his daughter, having light brown hair, and dark-peach coloured skin. Remus' eyes, however, were green-grey, and not blue, like his daughter's were. Paige had inherited her eyes from her mother, not Remus.

Eventually the transformations began. The men had moved away from the women during transformation, and this was because male werewolves, just after transformation, were more likely to be highly aggressive, even towards the females. This was a result of the amount of testosterone in their bodies skyrocketing. This happened most especially during the werewolf mating season, between the months of May – June.

Once the transformation was complete, Martha, as a newly matured female werewolf, started investigating some of their pack males, not quite understanding them. Soon, however, Natalie, as a large, light brown spotted werewolf, ran up to her and bit her on the back of her neck warningly. Martha looked up and noticed, then, that there was a completely black, adult female werewolf growling at her. She instantly knew this werewolf was the alpha, and the male she had been investigating, was the alpha male.

She crouched down slightly, showing submission to the alpha female. The female eventually walked off, and the male, knowing she was likely to be upset with him for patiently allowing Martha to investigate him, followed his mate, who'd gone back to watching their cubs. He slowly walked up to her, his head held low.

All of a sudden, though, a smell of prey caught every pack member's attention. The alpha male knew his position and he stood up, howling to call every pack member to him. All 900 other members walked towards him, their heads held low, but their short tails wagging excitedly. Holding the head low was considered a sign of respect in the werewolf world.

"With the approach of prey, we shall hunt for the food that we so badly crave!" he said in werewolf and every other werewolf present growled in support. "Now, for this hunt to be successful, we need everyone to cooperate and work together as a team! Females, I want you to stalk the prey, and once Rolmio has brought the prey to the ground, hold it down! Males, circle the prey and females, causing a solid wall of werewolves so the prey can't run. And Rolmio," he added, turning to Remus, who was a large light brown coloured werewolf, with some white to his muzzle, stomach and chest, stood to attention, facing the alpha. "You know what to do. Do not fail us. If you fail us again, I will have no choice but to choose a different primary hunter." He said softly to Remus, who held his right forepaw to his heart, as a sign of a salute. "Swear on the Howling Wolf God." He commanded and Remus stood up as straight as possible for a werewolf (which is not very straight!).

"I swear on the Howling Wolf God, that I will not fail to bring food home from the hunt." Remus said, his forepaw still over his heart.

"Good. Now move out!" he called the last command out loudly to the rest of the pack. All the werewolves over two years of age followed Remus out of the centre of the territory, which was known as the Sleeping Area. The mothers of cubs below two years of age stayed behind in a small area beside the Sleeping Area, which was called the Birthing Area, dedicated to the birth of cubs. Martha and her friends followed Remus into the Hunting area, located on the outer edges of the pack's territory.

"This place looks like somewhere humans had fenced off." Martha said to William, who was a large, cream coloured werewolf.

"It was, but this pack had been here since before humans had even started making their own things. There were a lot of werewolf bites at the time, and eventually humans had built the fence to stop the attacks. It was out of fear of us that compelled them to fence it off; otherwise we wouldn't be in a fenced area." William explained softly to her, as they slowly walked towards the scent of prey.

"But why didn't the alphas decide to move the pack, Willo?" Martha asked him.

"Manty, there are a lot of things you may not understand, but this was the birthplace of the alpha male's ancestors. He decided that if his ancestors were born here, he would stay here, and there would be no changing his mind. Anyway, I have to join the rest of the males in circling the prey. You follow the females. You'll eventually learn the best hunting techniques." He said, running off to join the other males. Martha caught up with the females and followed their lead, slowly beginning to learn the female's job in hunting.

The prey was a human man. And he was standing there, without any trace of fear of the approaching werewolves. The only visible expression was determination, but what had caught the beta female's attention was a herd of deer grazing nearby, apparently unaware of the approaching danger. Martha slowly walked towards the deer with the other females, and the deer suddenly seemed to catch their scent and tried to flee, but all they did was run into a solid wall of male werewolves. They continued to run, but the werewolves wouldn't let them. Finally, Christine leapt up onto the back of one of the larger males, biting his neck, while Martha bit the throat, crushing the larynx under the strength of her jaws. The deer stopped struggling suddenly, becoming very limp. Martha and Christine let go of him, and that was when the human man appeared in the middle of the circle of males. Christine looked up, panting excitedly. Bowing her head, she approached the beta female.

"Can we please attack this human?" she asked, motioning to the human man. The beta female looked at him for a second.

"Shenny, you know that if we attack him, he may get other humans to attack us…if he survives, that is." She said gently to the young female.

"But he looks like good prey." Christine replied, and the beta sighed.

"Okay, we'll attack him. Because even if he does survive, he'll add to the pack, which will expand us." She replied, leading all the females towards the human. Still no fear appeared on his face, only determination. Martha wondered why he was so determined. Eventually they stopped stalking him, realising he was aware of their presence, and it turned into a frontal attack. Martha leapt at him, knocking him off his feet and she clawed at his face and neck, biting his throat.

"Manty, not that way!" Remus yelled, running forward and pushing her off the human. Instead, he bit the man on the chest, where the heart was located. The man flinched with pain, before Remus was knocked off his paws by another human. Martha ran up to him, checking if he was alright. He got to his paws again and started growling at this human. This one was female, but she had a human man standing next to her. Remus leapt at her, his teeth bared, and the other males broke ranks, forgetting about the deer, and ran, instead, towards the humans. The females joined in, leaping at them but being blown back by the humans' wands. Two females had hit the ground but hadn't got back onto their paws. Martha ran towards them, checking them over, but her instinct told her they were dead.

_No. They killed them, I'll kill those humans!_ She thought, snarling at the two humans, who looked at her and spoke to each other in a strange language. Then they pointed their wands at her and she realised they were going to hurt her like they did Remus and the two females. She was about to leap at them, but Remus held onto her foreleg with his mouth.

"Don't, Manty. They'll get you like they did the other two. We'll get the whole hunting group to attack them together. Because there's more of us then there are of them." He whispered and Martha bowed her werewolfish head.

"Okay." She said, falling back with the rest of the pack. The pack slowly approached the two humans, who, although having wands at their disposal, were suddenly looking fearful. Suddenly, the beta male lunged at the male human and bit him on the shoulder. He yelled in pain and the female human screamed, bashing the beta with her fist on his head. He suddenly let go, whimpering, and running back to join the rest of the pack. The pack's medics ran forward, gently lifting him up between them and carrying him back to the Sleeping Area. The human man was losing so much blood, that he was hardly able to stay conscious, and the female human held him and disappeared, leaving the other man still on the ground, losing enormous amounts of blood.

"Leave him. Grab the deer and get back to the Sleeping Area. The humans will be back." Remus said to the hunters, starting to limp back to the Sleeping Area. The pack followed his lead, all except for Martha and the beta female.

"What about the two dead females?" she asked the beta. "Won't the alphas want to know who died and who survived?"

"They will. But Rolmio's job was only to catch the meal and bring the pack safely back, not bring back the dead. That's my job." She replied, stooping down to pick one of the dead up. Martha followed suit and together they walked down to the Sleeping Area.

In the Sleeping Area, Martha and the beta female lay the two cold, limp females in front of the alphas, stepping back with their heads held low and their tails as far between their hind legs as possible, wagging slowly. They knew the alphas were not going to be happy with the pack for this. Especially not Remus, considering he was supposed to deliver the rest of the pack safely back to the Sleeping Area.

"Where is Rolmio!?" the alpha male growled to the pack and Remus stepped forward, crouching low with his tail between his legs and his head held low, to show submission. "How do you explain this!?" he asked Remus, who looked down at the two dead werewolves.

"We were attacked by humans, I couldn't help it. There were three humans, and they had wands. They were dangerous. As soon as they attacked, we knew there were going to be casualties. We stayed and fought to protect you and the mothers with cubs. If we'd fled, they'd have followed us and killed everyone, including the cubs." Remus said softly to them. "I'm sorry." He added, sitting down, his head held as low as possible, his tail still between his legs. The alpha female sighed and looked at her mate. She whispered something to him, but he shook his head.

"Rolmio, because you were unable to return with these two werewolves alive, you are hereby stripped of the honour of being primary hunter. You are now also a lower-class subordinate. Go sit with the lower-class subordinates. But before you do, you need one punishment more." He said to Remus, but loud enough for the whole pack to hear, and he turned Remus around and bit him on the back of the neck, breaking the skin, but without killing him. Remus winced with the pain and once the alpha male let go; he limped to the edge of the Sleeping Area and sat down, his head bowed.

"Okay, we now need a new primary hunter. Someone who will ensure the survival of every pack member during hunts and will not fail to bring us a meal. Candidates must be mature, whether male or female, it doesn't matter, but they are not to presently have cubs below two years. Candidates must also be in the higher-class subordinates. Who's willing to take up the responsibility?" the alpha female said to the rest of the pack and only two werewolves walked slowly forward with their heads lowered.

It took a while for the alphas to select a suitable candidate. The alpha male stood up and silenced the pack so he was able to speak.

"Okay, we have selected a new primary hunter. We have decided to elect Willo as our new primary hunter! Make us proud, Willo." He said and all the werewolves in the pack howled to honour the new primary hunter, all except Remus, who stayed in his same position, sulking.

Eventually everything went back to normal for the rest of the night. When the sun began to rise, however, every werewolf who was born a human went to the Hunting Area to transform. It turned out that three quarters of the werewolves in the pack were originally human, but were either born with the curse or were bitten by another werewolf.

After the transformations had finished, Martha saw Paige running up to Remus, who was walking slowly away. Suddenly, however, she heard Natalie scream.

"Sirius!" she heard her mother scream and she looked around to see her father on the ground, lying way too still.

"No. Not Dad, please." She whispered, running up to her father and kneeling down next to him, tears in her eyes. "Is he alright, Mum?" she asked her mother, who was trying desperately to revive him.

"He's barely alive. The bite went too deep, and he was losing way too much blood." She said, picking him up gently and taking Martha, who was holding Jessica, by the hand and disapparating.

Back at home, Natalie told Martha to lay Jessica in her bed and get her medical kit.

"We don't have much time. If we're going to save him, we need the kit fast." She said and Martha nodded, walking to Jessica's bedroom and laying the sleeping baby in the bed, before running into her parents' room and grabbing her mother's medical kit and running down the stairs to her parents, her father now on the couch, his shirt had been removed to show the wound to his chest.

"Is he any better, Mum?" she asked her mother, handing her the kit. Natalie sighed softly as she opened the kit and took out her wand to start cleaning the wounds.

"Not yet. But he will get better, if he's able to remain in my care, although it'll probably take about another two weeks to a month." She said, now placing gauze pads on Sirius' wounds and bandaging them gently to his body. "Now all we have to do is make sure he doesn't require CPR to keep him alive." She added, timing his pulse and breathing. "You run up to your bedroom, now. Get some rest, it'll help you." She said, placing her hand briefly on Martha's shoulder. Martha nodded and walked up the stairs.

Entering her bedroom, she noticed a strange owl outside her window. She opened the window and the owl flew in, dropping a letter onto her bed before flying back outside the window. Martha tore open the letter, wondering what on earth it was. She read;

_Martha,_

_I have bad news, but I can't tell you in this letter, in case it's intercepted. It's too dangerous, because we never know what the Ministry's up to._

_Ask your mum if you can come to my place. It's urgent! Please hurry! Bring your mum too, if she wants._

_Thanks,_

_Adelyne._

Martha read and reread the letter in quick succession. She then realised what must've happened. Racing down the stairs with the letter still in her hand, she ran to her mother, handing her the letter. Natalie read it and sighed.

"If it's that urgent, I have no choice but to let you go. But I want you back by ten o'clock, alright?" she said and Martha nodded, thanked her mother and ran to the fireplace, where she grabbed a handful of glistening powder (floo powder) and threw it into the fire, before stepping in herself.

"208 Duke Street, London!" she said and she suddenly span into the floo network. Tucking her elbows in against her body, she was spinning for about two minutes before spinning into another fireplace. She stopped herself before she face planted the hearth of Adelyne's lounge room. Straightening up, she saw Adelyne suddenly run up to her in hysterics.

"What on earth is wrong, Adelyne!?" she asked, shocked.

"It's Dad! Dad's been bitten! He – he – he's –" she choked, tears streaming down her face. "He's d-dead!" she sobbed, falling to her knees, her face hidden in her hands and her shoulders shaking with sobs.

"Oh my god, Adelyne. I'm so sorry to hear that. Where's your mum?" Martha said softly, hugging her distraught friend.

"In her room. I don't think she wants to know about anything at the moment." She choked.

"We need to make sure nothing else happens, or things could prove very difficult for you." Martha said softly to her. "And I'm sorry to bring this up, but was he killed from the bite itself or the loss of blood?" she added.

"Blood loss killed him apparently." Adelyne replied, beginning to sob harder.

"I'm so sorry, Adelyne." Martha said softly, just as a scream pierced the air and Martha and Adelyne looked to the source of the scream in alarm. They both stood up and ran to Adelyne's mother, Eve's bedroom, where they heard the scream.

"Mum!?" Adelyne called out in panic. "Mum!? Mum, where are you!?"

Suddenly, Eve ran out of her bedroom and towards Adelyne's sisters' bedroom, where her younger sisters, Emilie and Melissa, were asleep. She opened the door and soon ran back out of the room with the two little girls in her arms. Martha and Adelyne followed her to the lounge, where she suddenly tripped and that was when a tall cloaked man appeared. He was completely bald and he had snakelike eyes and a snakelike nose. His fingers were skeletal and Martha instantly recognised him as Lord Voldemort, the darkest and most feared wizard in the whole wizarding world.

"Voldemort!" she whispered, shocked. Voldemort lifted his wand arm and pointed the wand straight at Eve, who held her daughters behind her to protect them.

"Give me the children!" Voldemort shrieked in a snakelike voice.

"No! Take me, but leave my children alone!" she screamed and Martha thought this was how Lily Potter begged Voldemort to kill her and leave Harry alive. This was the basic Potter story all over again.

"_Accio baby_!" Voldemort said, his wand pointed at the children Eve was desperately trying to protect. Emilie came flying from her mother's arms and into the Dark Lord's instead. Voldemort pointed his wand at the baby girl's heart. "_Avada Kedavra_!" he said and the little girl suddenly became very limp.

"NO!!" Eve and Adelyne screamed at the same time, both with tears streaming down their faces as Adelyne ran forward and kicked Voldemort in the shins. He stumbled, before regaining his footing and pointing his wand at her.

"Don't you dare!" Eve suddenly shrieked, running forward and shielding her eldest daughter.

"_Avada Kedavra_!" Voldemort said calmly and Eve screamed before falling to the ground, obviously dead.

"Mum! No!" Adelyne screamed and that was when Remus and William appeared in the house. Both men pointed their wands at Voldemort and Martha automatically knew they wanted them to take Melissa and go.

"Come on Adelyne!" Martha urged her friend desperately. "Grab Melissa, then take the flu network to my place." Adelyne took one last look at her deceased mother and sister before grabbing the wailing three year old and running towards the fireplace, but Natalie appeared in the room and told them to hold her by the arms. They did so and she took them on side-along apparition. Arriving back at home, Martha let go of her mother's arm and sat down, breathing heavily.

"Are you two alright?" Natalie asked them, leading the distraught Adelyne over to a chair and sitting her down on it.

"That was truly scary. For a second, I thought we were all dead meat!" Martha whispered, looking towards her friend.

"I can't believe it." Adelyne mumbled softly, looking at her feet. "I lost both my parents and my baby sister."

"I know, Adelyne, but when you were born, your parents chose Sirius and I as your godparents, so I have no choice now but to look after you until you're old enough to leave home." Natalie said, placing her hand on Adelyne's shoulder.

"Where is Sirius, by the way?" she asked softly.

"He was bitten by a werewolf last night and is unconscious on his bed. Anyway, now to find you a bedroom." Natalie replied, looking thoughtful.

"She can have the room next to mine." Martha suggested. "That's free."

"Hmmm…good point. Okay, Adelyne, I'll show you to your room." She said, leading Adelyne up the stairs. Martha picked Melissa up and walked her to Jessica's room, placing her on the spare bed next to Jessica's bed. Once she had done that, she walked up to her room and saw Natalie and Adelyne in the room next door, which was to be Adelyne's bedroom.


	2. Back on the Train

_Chapter 2: Back on the Train_

Martha and Adelyne were taken to Kings Cross Station at ten thirty on the morning of September the 1st. Although the Hogwarts Express left the station at 11:00am, Natalie and Sirius wanted Martha and Adelyne to get there early so they were able to catch up with their friends, etc.

Adelyne, however, was still mourning the loss of both her parents and her baby sister. And when they ended up on Platform 9 ¾, her boyfriend, John Jefco, ran up to her, noticing the sad look in her eyes.

"What's wrong Adelyne?" he asked her, hugging her.

"Both my parents and my baby sister are all dead. Melissa and I were the only survivors."

"How? What happened?" John asked her, looking into her eyes.

"Dad was bitten by a werewolf, and Mum and Emilie were murdered by Voldemort." She said, tears beginning to spill down her cheeks. Martha looked away at this moment, because her boyfriend, Dean Ethene, had appeared by her side and seemed to be demanding her attention.

"Hello, Martha." He said enthusiastically.

"Hello Dean. How were your holidays?" she asked him, kissing him briefly.

"Boring without you, but the last few transformations were rather interesting." He replied.

"How were they interesting?"

"You were there. Unfortunately, I was caught with talking to other pack members to realise you were in the same pack. And I was about to go to you to say hello, but I was stopped by Remus, and at that time, we all started to transform. But I have no idea why he stopped me, and why all the men moved away from the women. Do you know why?" he asked her, acting like a ten year old, rather than the 13 year old that he was.

"Because the levels of testosterone in the men skyrocket whenever they transform. And you can't tell me you have no testosterone, because now that you're a 13 year old, you're sexually mature as a werewolf, so you've just reached puberty early as a human." Martha sighed, just as Paige, Dora, Christine and Lannastar appeared. "Hello people!" she laughed. "I hope you're able to tell Dean to act like a 13 year old, not a ten year old?"

Her friends all started laughing and Martha then realised her father, in his dog form, and the family Labrador, Snuffles, were placed under her care. She looked up for her mother but realised she wasn't there.

"Are you coming with us, Dad?" she asked him softly. The large black dog that was Sirius inclined his head. "Is Snuffles?" she asked. He inclined his head again. "Why?"

Sirius beckoned Martha to follow him and led her to an area of the station that was deserted. Here, Martha unfastened his collar and he transformed back to a man.

"Why is Snuffles coming, Dad?" she asked him again. Sirius sighed and knelt down next to the dog, scratching him gently behind the ear.

"Your mother and I spoke to Dumbledore and he agreed that, because we had no one to look after Snuffles during the Hogwarts year, that you could bring him along as an extra pet. You'll be taking him on the train with you and if any of the teachers ask, tell them that Dumbledore allowed you and they should let you go your own way then. Your mother has dog food for him which she will give you once you get to Hogwarts, okay?" he replied, standing up.

"Okay." Martha replied, and that was when Paige suddenly ran over, looking rushed.

"Hurry Martha, the train's about to leave!" she exclaimed and Sirius transformed back into a dog and Martha attached his collar and together with Snuffles, they ran to the train, where Martha and Paige just managed to get on with Sirius and Snuffles before the doors started closing and the train started moving. They walked to the compartment in silence, opening the door and sitting down. Martha noticed that Dean and his friends weren't there.

"Sorry girls, Dad wanted to talk to me." She said, closing the door and sitting down.

"What did he say?" Adelyne asked her curiously. "And why have you got your dog here?" she added, patting Snuffles, who was sniffing at her hand.

"That's why he wanted to talk to me. Mum has already explained to Dumbledore that no one is able to be home to look after Snuffles, so he allowed me to have him at school with me as a pet." She explained and her friends all nodded.

"You know, this year's going to be harder to be normal, with Voldemort having risen again. This really sucks, too." Adelyne said softly.

"Well, we can't really help that. Talk to Pettigrew for that." Christine said, clenching and unclenching her fist once.

"No thanks, now that Voldemort's back." Dora piped up, and everyone laughed. "I'm not interested in being killed when I'm asking Pettigrew questions."

"Now how do you know you'll be killed when you're talking to Pettigrew?" Lannastar asked her.

"Because Voldemort kills anyone and everyone he comes across." Dora replied.

"Actually, he only kills those that get in his way." Paige said to them matter-of-factly.

"How do you know, Paige?" Adelyne asked her curiously. "You're not secretly a follower of him, are you?" she added, jokily.

"No, but Dad told me. He said that although Voldemort kills a lot of people, he only kills those that get in his way."

"And how does he know?"

"Because it all comes down to logic. If Voldemort kills everyone he sees, he'd have no followers because they'd all be dead. It's obvious he wants followers to do his bidding, so he'll blackmail them to get them to join, but if they don't, he kills them." Paige said, and Adelyne looked overcome with information. Martha laughed when she saw this, but stopped when she heard Snuffles whining softly. Sirius in his dog form walked up to him and sat next to him, sniffing his ear. Snuffles suddenly turned his head, knocking Sirius' nose with his skull. Snuffles then stood up and pressed his forelegs and chest to the ground, his hindquarters in the air, tail wagging madly. Sirius stood up, panting, before quickly transforming back to his human form before changing into his much newer corgi form.

"Here we go, tiny black corgi with large black Labrador." Dora laughed as they all watched the two dogs playing happily.

"Excuse me?" a timid female voice said softly. The Canine Maraudesses looked up at who had spoken and saw a girl with light brown skin and very wavy shoulder-length red-brown hair, which was tied back in a ponytail.

"How can we help you?" Martha asked the girl politely.

"Ummm…my name is Chrisa Jones, and I'm just starting at Hogwarts. Do you girls mind if I join you?" she asked them nervously.

"Of course!" Adelyne said to her happily. "Welcome to the Canine Maraudesses!"

"Don't worry about her, Chrisa. She just likes the sound of her own voice. Come and sit down." Lannastar said, laughing at Adelyne's expression. "My name is Lannastar Potter." She added as Chrisa sat down, watching the two dogs.

"My name is Adelyne Marlo." Adelyne said, still laughing at the dogs.

"I'm Martha Black." Martha said.

"I'm Paige Lupin."

"I'm Dora Snape."

"I'm Christine Wilkinson."

Chrisa nodded, greeting them each as they introduced themselves.

"Now, I hope you don't mind if I ask you about the dogs?" she asked softly, a thick Irish accent obvious to the Maraudesses.

"They're mine. Well, one is my actual pet dog. The other one is my…" Martha said, standing up and closing the door, magically frosting the glass to make it opaque. "The other is my father, Sirius Black." Martha said softly, as Dora sound-proofed the room magically.

"You mean Sirius Black is on the train?" Chrisa asked curiously.

"Yes, but don't panic, because he's innocent of the crimes he was convicted of, the Ministry just made a mistake." Martha said.

"Okay, I believe you Martha. Can I at least know which one is your pet dog, and which one is your father?" Chrisa asked.

"The Labrador is my pet and the corgi is my father. Dad, please transform back. It's okay, no one is going to turn you in." she said. The corgi turned his small head towards Martha and transformed back into a man. Chrisa's jaw dropped.

"Hello Chrisa." He said to the surprised girl.

"Ummm…hello." Chrisa replied nervously. The rest of the Maraudesses nodded once at him and started talking to each other again, obviously not caring that he was on the train with them.

"Now Chrisa, are you starting in your first year?" Martha asked Chrisa curiously.

"No. Professor Dumbledore told me I'd be starting from the third year, as I'd come from a different wizarding school." Chrisa replied.

"What school did you come from?" Paige asked her.

"Warty Dublin School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." She replied.

"So why did you decide to come to Hogwarts?"

"Well…my mum is the Headmistress at Warty Dublin and she didn't care that…I'd been…raped…repeatedly this year at Warty Dublin (the last time was two weeks ago) and I'd told her about it and she didn't care…she just told me that she had things to do. She didn't even care that I'm now pregnant because of it. I told her I wanted to leave Ireland and live in England with my father and she said for me to go ahead, but she wouldn't set foot in England if her life depended on it. So I moved into 11 Privet Drive, where my dad and brother live." She said softly, her shoulders hunched and her face hidden in her hands. Martha tentatively placed her hand on Chrisa's shoulder.

"Oh my god Chrisa, I didn't realise. I'm sorry to hear that." She said.

"That's not all. Shortly before school started here, a pack of werewolves attacked my father, brother and I. It happened on the last full moon. My father was bitten badly, as was my brother. I escaped serious injury, however…" she said, lifting her hair and showing a barely visible scar on her neck, just above where her carotid artery would be located.

"Oh my god." Martha breathed, looking at the scar. "You were bitten too?"

"Yeah. But the injury to my neck is nothing compared to this." She said, lifting her trouser leg to show a heavily bandaged left calf. Although it was heavily bandaged, there were still blood stains coming through.

"I know how that one feels. I was bitten a year ago and the scars are still visible." Martha whispered, showing Chrisa the white scars all over her left wrist.

"Ouch. So you're a…werewolf…too, then?"

"Yeah. So are Christine, Paige, Adelyne and Lannastar. So there's nothing to be ashamed of." Martha replied, smiling at her new friend. "But besides that, welcome to the Canine Maraudesses, Chrisa." She said.

"Thanks." Chrisa replied, obviously glad to have friends.

"Now, because you are a new member of the Canine Maraudesses, Chrisa, we need to teach you the Maraudesses Vow. We need you to agree with it and learn it off by heart, because we may ask you to recite it. Okay Maraudesses, recite the Vow." Paige said to the Maraudesses and everyone placed their right hands over their hearts.

"_We will never laugh or contradict if anyone has done something. We will only listen and offer advice where necessary. We will never talk over someone when they are telling us their problems and we will always trust other members. We will never shun people away and we will always try to be as friendly to our fellow students as possible. We will NEVER tell other Maraudesses lies._" They chorused. Martha quickly wrote the lines down and handed the piece of parchment to Chrisa, the latter reading it through carefully. She looked up and nodded at Martha, who smiled.

"Now make sure you learn it off by heart." She said and Chrisa promised she would.


	3. Chrisa Sorted

_Chapter 3: Chrisa sorted_

The train eventually pulled up in Hogsmeade station and everyone got off, leaving their luggage on board. Martha picked up Snuffles' lead and Sirius and, holding Sirius in one arm, she led Snuffles out of the compartment and off the train, walking up to the school.

"Now, Chrisa, you'll need to see Professor Dumbledore in his office to let him know you've arrived, and you'll be sorted among the first years, even though you're entering in your third year." Martha explained and Chrisa nodded and continued walking with her friends.

Suddenly, just as they had entered the castle, Natalie appeared near them and looked at the seven girls.

"Good evening girls." She said to them, looking at each of them in turn. "Who's the new person, Martha?" she asked, noticing Chrisa.

"Oh yeah…Mum, this is Chrisa. Chrisa, this is my mother and the Medical Education teacher, Professor Talleo." Martha said, grinning guiltily.

"Um, hello Professor Talleo." Chrisa said nervously.

"Hello Chrisa. Are you new to Hogwarts?" Natalie asked the new girl.

"Yes. I'd originally come from Warty Dublin School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Chrisa said.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. Anyway, Martha, here's the dog food for Snuffles. Your father obviously told you, then?" Natalie said.

"Yes he did, Mum. He explained it to me, and I'm fine with that, as long as Snuffles is good and doesn't try to eat Tiny." She said, putting Sirius on the ground, where he ran to Natalie, sitting in front of her, panting.

"You idiot." Martha heard Natalie sigh under her breath, shaking her head slowly. Sirius stopped panting and looked at her with a confused expression in his doggy eyes as though saying 'since when was I an idiot?' and Natalie laughed.

"Okay, now I suggest you guys get to the feast." Natalie said, beginning to walk towards the Great Hall.

"Mum, before we do, we need to take Chrisa to see Professor Dumbledore to let him know to sort her as well." Martha said.

"But isn't she a first-year?"

"No. Try third-year." Martha replied.

"Oh, okay. You go see Dumbledore and I'll see you at the feast sometime later on then." Natalie replied, walking down to the Great Hall. Martha and her friends led Chrisa up several flights of stairs to the fourth floor, on which the office of the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, was located.

"Sherbet Lemon." Martha said the password and the gargoyle in front of Dumbledore's office door sprang to life and leapt aside, allowing the girls entry. Walking into the office, they saw a tall man with long silver hair and beard standing at his desk, sorting through his paperwork.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Christine asked him and he looked around, greeting them all warmly.

"Ah, welcome back to Hogwarts, girls. How may I help you?" he said in a deep voice.

"Um, Professor, this is Chrisa Jones, a new girl here. She's starting her 3rd year." Martha said and Dumbledore looked through his half-moon glasses at the new girl.

"Ah, so I see. Okay, I'll just get her details." He said, turning back to his paperwork. "Here we are. Chrisa Jones, recently moved to England from Ireland? Father's name Mike Jones? Has a brother here named Mitchel Jones?" he asked her.

"Um yeah. That's me." Chrisa replied.

"Okay, you'll be sorted with the first years tonight, but you'll start your classes with all the other third years, alright?" he asked and she nodded.

"Alright. Thank you Professor Dumbledore." Chrisa replied as the girls left the office, walking into the Great Hall and sitting down at the Ravenclaw table, second to the left of the hall. Dumbledore walked in shortly afterwards, standing up and all the students fell silent.

"Could we please welcome the first years and a new third year girl to come up to the stool to be sorted?" he called out and Chrisa stood up and joined the first years in walking up to the stool that stood in front of the Teacher's Table at the front of the Great Hall. The Head of Gryffindor House and the Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall, stood next to the stool, a roll of parchment in her hands.

"Okay, first I'll sort our new third year, before we sort the first years." She said and Chrisa slowly approached the stool and sat on it. McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on her head.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat shouted after about a minute. Chrisa stood up, taking the hat off her head and half walked-half ran to the Ravenclaw table, which had exploded in cheers.

"Alright, now let's welcome and sort our new first-years!" McGonagall called and everyone fell silent, listening to the sorting.


	4. Professor Umbridge

_Chapter 4: Professor Umbridge_

Martha and her friends walked into the Great Hall the next morning to an unusual amount of silence, then remembering last night. The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Dolores Umbridge, had said that '…progress for progress' sake must be avoided…' which basically meant that the Ministry of Magic was now interfering at Hogwarts. The girls sat down, just as Dean walked over to Martha, kissing her briefly, before sitting next to her.

"Good morning Martha." He said to her. "Did you hear that Umbridge woman last night?"

"Yeah, I heard it loud and clear. In other words, the Ministry is interfering _again_ at Hogwarts." Martha said gloomily.

"What do you mean, again, Martha?" Chrisa asked her. "Has the Ministry done this before?"

"Yeah, Dad told me that it happened about three times when he was here." Martha replied, sighing.

"Well, I guess we can't really help it; I mean, they are ruling the country. They do have full responsibility over the country." Dora piped up.

"I know Dora, but our current Minister for Magic is a complete – excuse my language on this part – but he's a complete _ass hole_. You all know that." Martha said quietly, looking around to make sure Umbridge wasn't listening in on what they were saying.

"We know, but he's still the Minister for Magic, and he does make the laws." Christine said quietly.

"I know that Christine, but it doesn't mean he's not a complete ass hole." Martha told her, just as Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher and the Ravenclaw Head of House, passed, handing out timetables. The Maraudesses and Dean took theirs and looked at them, falling silent.

"Oh perfect, double Defence, then we've got Medical Education, then Divination and double Care of Magical Creatures." Dean said.

"But Dean, we don't even know what Divination is. Nor do we know what Care of Magical Creatures is." Martha told her boyfriend matter-of-factly.

"Care of Magical Creatures…the name itself is self-explanatory. We learn how to care for magical creatures." Adelyne said.

"That bit was obvious, but we don't know anything else about it. So we can't judge things we don't know anything about." Martha said, more to her boyfriend than her friends.

"I know Martha, so keep your hair on." Dean said, just as a shout caught their attention.

"Hey Dean, you coming?" a male voice called and everyone looked up and saw the other members of the Ravenclaw Rebels, Daniel Brown, Draco Malfoy, Peter Travis, Adrian Nuttlemock, Jack Lupin and Mitchel Jones standing at the doorway to the Great Hall, Draco with his hands cupped around his mouth, making it obvious it was him calling Dean.

"Coming guys." Dean called to them, kissing Martha again briefly before running to join his friends. Martha sighed, shaking her head slowly as she and her friends stood up.

"Idiot." She muttered and the Maraudesses all laughed as they headed to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom after the Rebels, from which Draco and Jack had separated themselves, as they were in their fifth year, not their third.

When they entered the classroom, they saw Umbridge already seated, wearing the same pink cardigan she had been wearing the previous night and a horrible black velvet bow was perched on top of her head. Martha cringed as she and her friends took their seats at the back of the classroom.

"Why do I wish this year could end soon? I was really looking forward starting this year, but now I'm wishing it could end as quickly as possible." She whispered to her friends, who all nodded in agreement.

"We agree, Martha, but we can't have everything go our way. And you know that." Christine said and Martha nodded, sighing.

"Good morning class." Umbridge said in a squeaky girl-like voice.

"Good morning Professor Umbridge." The class droned, Martha and her friends groaning.

Finally the class ended and the Maraudesses and Rebels were some of the first students out of the classroom.

"I still can't believe she set us homework on the first day! We'd just started the year and we've already got homework!" Dean said angrily to his friends.

"I can't believe I got a detention for telling her the truth! I guess I'd better talk to my parents about this." Martha said angrily, storming to the second floor, on which the Hospital Wing and Medical Education classroom was located. Her friends followed, all of them just as angry as her.

Reaching the Medical Education classroom, they saw Natalie at her desk, bending over some pieces of parchment. She looked up when they entered.

"Oh, good morning girls. Ah, and here come the boys." She said, smiling as she straightened up, looking around at the Ravenclaw third-year students as they filed in. "Hmmm…I wonder where the Hufflepuffs have gone." She said, looking around at the sea of black and blue robes, just as a group of students walked in wearing yellow-hemmed robes. Pretty soon, the classroom was full of third-year students from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. "Good morning girls and boys." She said kindly to the students, and it was obvious that the students who didn't know her very well were beginning to warm up to her already.

"Good morning Professor Talleo." They chorused, taking their seats.

"Welcome to Medical Education. Now, to start us off, we're going to take some notes about the basics in the study of medicine. This year, we're only going to cover the basics, and go into further depth next year." She explained to the class, who took their text books, some parchment, quills and ink bottles out of their bags. "First of all, who can tell me how your body sustains life?" She asked the class and Martha's was the first hand in the air. Natalie sighed, smiling slightly. "Yes Martha." She asked her.

"Um, your heart pumps blood to your lungs and around your body; your lungs take in oxygen for your blood to transport around your body and your brain sends electrical impulses to the rest of your body to make sure its all working." Martha replied confidently.

"Well done Martha. Twenty points to Ravenclaw." She said and Martha smiled. "Now, who can tell me what hormone is commonly called the 'fight or flight' hormone?" she asked the class and this time, Martha and Chrisa's hands shot into the air first. "Yes Chrisa." She said to the new girl.

"Adrenaline. It's produced by the adrenal glands, which are located near your kidneys." She said and Natalie nodded.

"Very good. Another twenty points to Ravenclaw." she said, smiling. "Okay, now we're going to take some notes and there'll be more questions for you to answer near the end of the lesson. And I hope that while you're taking notes, if you have any questions that you ask me. Because I may be able to help you." She added and the class nodded as she tapped the blackboard with her wand. Words appeared on the blackboard and the class copied them down.

Eventually, the bell rang and the class packed up.

"Alright, homework: I want you all to write one page on the best ways to look after injured patients. To be handed in at our next lesson." Natalie said as the class packed their things away and left the room, talking excitedly about the lesson.

"That was a really good lesson. She's probably the best teacher we've had throughout all our years here." Dora said as they walked to lunch.

"Well, except Remus. He was just as good as she is. You have to admit that." Martha said, laughing, before remembering her detention with Umbridge. "Crap! I forgot to tell Mum about my detention!" she cursed as they walked.

"Tell her after Care of Magical Creatures, while we're on our way to dinner." Lannastar said, shrugging.

"I guess I could. But I still can't believe that Umbridge would say that a) Voldemort hasn't returned, and b) my father will receive the Dementor's Kiss when he's caught! That f***ing bitch!" Martha swore about Umbridge under her breath, anger boiling over in her chest.

In divination, they learned how to read tea-leaves and predict the future from them. During divination, Martha wrote down ways that she could get out of doing her detention with Professor Umbridge.

"What are you doing Martha?" Dean asked her, leaning over from his table to look.

"Trying to think of ways to avoid going to detention with that Umbridge bitch." Martha whispered back, showing him the list of ways she'd come up with.

"Here's an idea; go out on a date with me on that night. You remember how we learned how to become animagi at the end of last year?" he asked her and she nodded.

"I remember. I guess it would be possible. How about the Hog's Head pub, considering the Three Broomsticks would probably be closed then, if the owner of the Three Broomsticks is Dora's mother, and Professor Snape's wife." Martha whispered in reply, smiling at her boyfriend. "And I won't tell my parents about the detention." She added to him, grinning evilly.


	5. Trouble

_Chapter 5: Trouble!_

The night of Martha's detention with Umbridge was probably the most risky thing she'd done that entire year. She risked getting caught, and if she was caught, she risked her and Dean getting further detentions, and she knew that if Natalie caught them, although she was Martha's mother, she would give them both detentions on the spot.

"Are you ready Dean?" she asked her boyfriend at eight o'clock that night and he came out of the boys' dormitory, wearing a pair of casual pants and a shirt.

"Ready. Come on Martha." He said and they checked once around them to make sure the common room was deserted before pushing the portrait open and walking casually out of the common room and into the corridor. Looking around again, they transformed into their animagi forms, Dean as a cat and Martha as a scruffy black dog like her father's animagus form. She looked at Dean and nodded, both of them sprinting through the castle and into the grounds, where they sprinted out of the front gates of the school grounds, running to Hogsmeade. They ran towards the Hogs Head Pub and transformed back into their original forms out the front of the pub. They casually entered and Martha sat at a table while Dean ordered drinks. Dean sat opposite her at the small table, handing her drink to her across the table.

"Thank you Dean." She said, smiling at him. "You do realise how much trouble we could get into if we're caught on our way back to school, don't you?" she added to him, taking a sip of her drink.

"Yes, but we're animagi, remember? No one except the most experienced wizards will be able to see us for who we actually are." Dean replied, shrugging.

"What about my dad? He'll know, and that's what's worrying me. Or McGonagall. I think even my mother will be able to see us for who we actually are, and Dumbledore too, I think. So unless we avoid those people altogether, we'll be caught." Martha replied and he sighed.

"Martha, don't worry about it. You're stressing about this too much. Just take the risk. Besides, we've already come this far, so there's no turning back." He said and Martha sighed deeply.

"Okay, but we need to be extra careful going back. Because leaving the school grounds is one thing; getting back in is another. Just please don't do anything stupid that will result in us getting caught." She said to him.

"I promise Martha." He replied in a whisper and she smiled.

"Thank you Dean." She whispered, reaching across the table and taking his hand in hers. "I love you." She added in a soft whisper.

"I love you too Martha." He whispered in reply as they finished their drinks and left the pub, walking briskly into a smaller side-alley, Dean pulling Martha into his arms. They leaned against the wall of a building, kissing deeply.

A sudden noise distracted the thirteen year old couple and they broke apart, looking around, taking their wands out.

"_Lumos_." They whispered together, the ends of their wands lighting up. They shone the light around them, hoping to illuminate whatever had made the noise. They heard it again. The low growl of a dog-like creature seemed to be coming closer and they backed slowly towards the main street, before backing into something completely solid.


	6. Danger

_Chapter 6: Danger_

Martha screamed as whoever they'd backed into grabbed both her and Dean. The growling came even closer and Dean grabbed Martha's hand desperately, holding onto it tightly. The person that grabbed the two teenagers held them out to whatever was making the growling noise, when a werewolf stepped out of the shadows. Martha and Dean could see the teeth glinting in the faint wand light. Dean gripped Martha's hand tighter, fear etched into every inch of his face.

The werewolf continued to approach them and sweat broke out on Martha's forehead. The person holding them threw her towards the obviously hungry werewolf, which sniffed her, and growled, before going for her throat, but getting her wrist instead as she threw her arm up to protect herself. She screamed as the werewolf bit deeper into her right wrist; she heard the bones snap and felt muscle, ligament and tendon tear under the werewolf's jaws, when the werewolf was knocked back, whimpering. Nearby stood Remus, his wand drawn and pointed at the werewolf. Next to him was Sirius, who had his wand on the man holding Dean. Martha saw a familiar-looking figure running towards them, and soon saw her mother kneel next to her, looking worried but stern at the same time. Her wrist was throbbing with the pain as Natalie tended to the wound. Looking at the wound, she saw it bleeding profusely, and it was obvious the werewolf had also managed to bite through the main artery going through the wrist. Finding she was feeling dizzy with a combination of pain and the sight of her own blood, she lay back, leaning her head against the cool concrete ground and closing her eyes, hearing the whimpers of the werewolf, and a yell as the man that had grabbed them was injured, before she heard hurried footsteps and felt someone lift her head gently in their arms. She was feeling too faint to care who was holding her head, and she felt consciousness slip away from her.

She woke in the Hospital Wing, seeing her mother bending over her, looking concerned. Relief washed over Natalie's face when she saw Martha awake.

"Are you okay Martha?" she asked her softly.

"I'm alright Mum, but my wrist really hurts." Martha replied.

"It would; you had some pretty bad damage done to it. You should just consider yourself lucky that Remus caught sight of you and Dean leaving the Hog's Head pub and immediately came to get your father and I." Natalie said.

"Where is Dean?" Martha asked, looking around for her boyfriend, seeing his unconscious form on a nearby bed.

"He was knocked unconscious when the man dropped him. He hit his head pretty hard on the ground when he was dropped." Natalie replied.

"Will he be alright?" Martha asked, worried.

"He'll be fine. It shouldn't be long before he regains consciousness." Her mother assured her gently, checking over her wound to her wrist. "You just rest; you need it."

Martha did as she was told, closing her eyes, falling asleep shortly afterwards.


End file.
